batty_vsg

Oh yay! I have been looking for more people who have their surgery date in December.

I'm December 12th!

All I have left to do is figure out FMLA/STD with my employer and my pre-op testing (in November.)

My nutritionist stated that Protein Shakes should be considered a "meal" and that the 30min no-water before/after rule should still apply to those. I can email her for further information (if people are interested) but I figured it had something to do with making sure you're giving the body time to digest the nutrients from the Protein Shake (instead of rushing it out with Water immediately afterwards.)

Of course, however, Protein shakes are considered a liquid.

Let me know if anyone wants me to email my nutritionist for further information!

34 minutes ago, insta_adventurer said:

Hi! For me- my surgeon’s office didn’t fill out my FMLA and disability paperwork until about a week after my surgery.

Perhaps go and sign the paper at the doctors and have them submit a letter to your HR department saying you’re having surgery. Your employer probably wants the info to make a formal decision on granting you a request for leave under FMLA.

The first step is getting the FMLA approval. You can get the FMLA form for employee illness here: https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/index.htm Your employer may have their own request for leave form you need to fill out first.

The second step is documenting the FMLA and reason for disability. The disability form is from whatever disability insurance company your employer uses.



The way things work, is you have to be out of work for a week before disability kicks in. So you’d likely want to use vacation time for the first week.. and then perhaps see about supplementing your disability with any additional vacation time you have (this would allow you to still get paid your usual amount, as disability is a fraction of that).

Your HR department should really be doing a better job at walking you through this process- as that’s what their job is! They should provide you with the necessary forms from the disability insurance provider.

Oh wow, you're a life saver!

Honestly, this process concerning FMLA and STD has been the most difficult aspect of pre-op (at least to me.) I need to do a better job of being more assertive in asking what exactly is expected of me to do, you know? I was told by my supervisor that HR would reach out to my surgeon's office, but I don't think that's the case (since I haven't heard anything back.)

2 minutes ago, lzucks said:

Agreed—HR should give you all the forms needed and walk you through them.

Agreed as well!

I think part of the issue is that I hadn't signed the authorization to disclose my information and that could have prevented HR from moving forward and giving me the paperwork that my supervisor requested. Regardless, it's my fault that I'm having someone step in, rather than do it myself (my supervisor told me this is how he dealt with FMLA when two other of his people went out.) So I am just going to go on Tuesday and request the paperwork myself.

You two are awesome, I really appreciate it.

Hello lovelies!

So I was approved for surgery and have scheduled my surgery date for December 12, 2018. I have CIGNA insurance.

The only thing I'm coming across as an issue at the moment is trying to figure out how to start the process of filing FMLA. I will also be taking a bit of short-term disability, but the majority of my time off (I'm wanting to take four weeks off) will be based off my vacation time.

I talked to my supervisor and he said that it would be beneficial to the paperwork being sent to HR that I have a letter from the surgeon stating that I am having surgery and the recommendation of time out. I called my surgeon's office about it and they told me that I had to come in and sign a form that they can disclose that I'm having surgery to various parties. . . . but they didn't really give me a next step.

I know this is very specific to the individual's insurance. But is this something I handle on my own, or where do I go from here?

Let me know if you have any questions! TIA!

1 hour ago, Matt Z said:

There is no guaranteed anything that will prevent this. You can take all sorts of things and if your body decides to put more follicles into "hibernation" than that's exactly what it's going to do.

Google "Telogen Effluvium" It's not "hair loss" exactly either. Your body shuts down follicles all the time as part of the normal shedding process, surgery, drastic diet changes, stress, etc can cause your body to shut down a much larger percentage of follicles than it would normally. So when those follicles finally do turn back on and start producing hair again, the hair that it was holding onto, gets released... so you folks end up shedding much more than they normally would.

Once it starts, it's way too late to even attempt anything... You can try to take Biotin and keep your Protein levels high pre-op, but again, there is absolutely nothing that will guarantee you won't "lose hair"

Definitely this.

The brain doesn't consider our hair to be a priority, so when stress hits us (losing weight, surgery, stress, etc. . . ) hair is usually the first thing to go. Instead of directing nutrients to promote Hair growth, it's now being redirected to another job in your body. Hair loss after a major weight loss event affects people in different ways. Some will lose a little, some will lose a lot (like I did when I lost 90 lbs), and some won't lose at all. It's a horrible genetic lottery.

It may sound a little dire, but the only thing to help you prior to this event is to be prepared for it. Make sure you're getting the Protein amount recommended by the doctor, drink plenty of Water, and get your Vitamins in. If your hair is still falling out in clumps a year out - then there could be a nutritional aspect to your hair loss. Find a shampoo/conditioner set that builds volume and learn that you don't need to wash your hair every day. Manipulating your hair to make it seem fuller will be difficult, but the hair will grow back.

Me? I mean, I lost a ton of hair back when I lost 90lbs through the Keto diet. I am not looking forward to losing it again, but I've talked with my husband and will likely shave it off + find a really nice quality wig. I've been wanting to shave my hair anyhow, so it may be the perfect opportunity.

1 minute ago, Tiff-a-lea said:

So u didn’t get a date till after your 6th weigh in roughly. I’m told I got to do 6 total. My 5th weigh-in is on 10/29

I mentioned in my other post that I had four, so you're not close off! But I only had to do 90 days of nutrition classes.

2 minutes ago, Tiff-a-lea said:

How many pre-op weigh-ins did u have before u got your date?

I have CIGNA insurance and they required 90 days of nutrition classes. Due to the way the classes were set up, I actually ended up having to do 4 weigh-ins. My surgeon did not require me to lose weight (though it was definitely encouraged) but I could not gain weight during the 90 days.

Hello everyone!

I was approved a few days ago (after only waiting a week) and received my surgery date for December 12, 2018! I chose this date out of the few offered to me because I am currently in college and I will be able to finish up my classes prior to the surgery (which was a huge worry of mine.) It's about two weeks before my birthday too!

Anyone else scheduled out in December?

So I just finished everything about two weeks ago. Took me about a week to get approved.

After I got approved, the coordinator told me that I had November 26th as my earliest surgery date. However, due to schooling, I opted to have surgery a little later on December 12th.

It will depend on the availability of your surgeon, approval time, etc.